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Day 25 – Thessaloniki

What to say about today? Really…. This seems like some sort of strange fiction.

Our included hotel breakfast was very pleasant – lots of variety. Nothing weird about that except that this place is supposedly nearly fully booked and it doesn’t seem so.

We are taking a bus tomorrow so decided to do a recee. Where is the bus station? We googled it and marked it on Gypsy and set off. We never did find that station. Pat discovered it is the wrong depot for where we want to go. The depot we need is several kilometres south of town.

We then tried to find the ticket selling office listed by the bus company. No luck there either. The Greeks seem to be a bit random when it comes to numbering buildings. They have even numbers on one side of a street and odd numbers on the other. But if you think #199 is across from, or even in the same block as # 198 or #200, you’d be wrong. The system here doesn’t work that way. We didn’t really figure out what the system might be – but by that time it seemed more than time for a gelato (me) and coffee (Pat). After that we decide to forget about our mission.

We did walk past what looks like a completely abandonded university campus. If not abandoned, then certainly in a dreadful state of disrepair. Finally, several hours later – during which we’d passed by numerous historic and ancient sites – including the great Roman arch over their (our) Via Egnatia – we returned to the hotel. They will order us a taxi tomorrow to take us to the mystery bus depot. We find it a bitter pill to swallow. Our walk is de-evolving into an endless stream of taxis and buses and trains!

Do not despair faithful readers – we have a plan. We will reveal all to you in due time. We have not given up on our quest. But our quest is slightly changed! Plans are made to be changed – I’m sure someone more famous than the two of us came up with that thought eons ago. So as we climb into bed tonight we are smiling, positive, and slightly intoxicated on some god awful ouzo – or what ever that was.

Good night from room 514 in the Hotel Olympic – or Olympus – no wait a minute – the Olympia! Yes that is where we are. Pretty sure.